Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Plan Framework: Minerals Regional Policy Context
The Regional Development Strategy (RDS) includes the following guidelines:
- to maintain a working countryside with a strong mixed use rural economy; and
- to make use of minerals for economic development in a sustainable manner and in a way which assesses the need to exploit the mineral resource against the need to protect and conserve environmental resources.
The Department’s regional planning policies for mineral development are currently set out in the Planning Strategy for Rural Northern Ireland (PSRNI). This contains a range of policies for the control of mineral development including peat extraction, taking into account environmental protection, visual amenity, public safety and traffic considerations. It also includes policies for mineral reserves, areas of constraint on mineral development and restoration of mineral workings. Areas of Constraint on Mineral Developments, and Mineral Resources are designated as identified in the Overview Map: 1 and the relevant District maps.
The policies contained in PPS 2: Planning and Nature Conservation, provide protection for the full range of sites of nature conservation importance, including peat-lands.
PPS 6: Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage sets out the policies for the protection and conservation of archaeological remains and features of the built heritage and embodies the Government’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental stewardship.
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